The first airplane

A man named Otto Lilienthal inspired the Wright brothers to build their first airplane. He glided on a hill in a big kite-type thing called a hang glider. The brothers really liked this idea and kept thinking about it. They remembered a toy their father brought home when they were very young. The boys named the toy, "The Bat." The Bat could fly and they had played with it a lot. When building airplanes, the …

…was a set back for the brothers because they had to make a new machine. Visiting Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, is a great place to learn about the Wright brothers and to see the Wright brothers' bike shop. In the bike shop you can see a model of the first airplane they built. The home of the Wright brothers was moved from Dayton, Ohio, to Greenfield Village. You can visit their house there today.